Two Sparrows in a Hurricane
by JuliaBeth
Summary: AU. Stanley is married to his high school sweetheart at the start of the series. This is the story of what they faced in the years leading up to the September attacks. Chapter 2 is up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: When I started watching the series, I didn't like Mimi. I loved her by the end. However, Stanley seems like the type of guy who would have married his high school girlfriend and settled down right out of school. This is my take on that. Any suggestions/comments welcome!

Disclaimer: I own nothing or anyone you recognize. Just playing with them for awhile. No money to be made.

Story Title is a Tanya Tucker Song title.

* * *

1992

Melissa Ann Green pushed her boyfriend of two years away. "Stop, Babe. Stop," she said kind of breathlessly. She looked out through a foggy window. This was their Saturday night ritual. Dinner at the café, maybe a movie, if a new one was playing at the one screen movie theater in town, sometimes a party or bonfire, then a few hours of making out on some secluded back road until time to get her home for her ridiculously early curfew of 10:30. No one else she knew had such an early curfew. Lindy Gaines' was 11:30 and her friend Annabelle's was midnight. Then there was Emily Sullivan who was probably the closest thing to a best friend Melissa had. She didn't even have a curfew. Of course, Em didn't have parents either, just a grandmother, but that was beside the point. She supposed that she be glad she was allowed to go out at all. The first year they were together, Johnston wouldn't even let them out of his sight, except to go to school sponsored events.

Stanley Richmond looked down at her. "What's wrong, Missy?"

"We need to stop."

"Why?"

"So we don't do something we'll regret," she replied.

"I wouldn't regret it," Stanley said.

"You would if Daddy found out," she shot back. "He'd cut your thing off."

"True, but how would he find out?" Stanley smiled.

"I don't know, but he would," she replied. "He knows everything. And what he doesn't know, E.J. does. They have the town wired. They probably have some poor patrolman just following me around right now to make sure you mind your manners."

"Is it scary that I believe that's possible?" Stanley laughed, sitting up and pulling Missy up with him.

Missy straightened her clothes and turned to lean against him. She knew he wanted more, but he never pushed her more than the occasionally please. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Stanley Richmond."

Stanley wrapped his arms around her. "And I love you, Missy Green, even if you do have the craziest family on the planet."

"We'd better get going," she said.

"It's only ten," Stanley answered. "Aren't you staying at the farm this weekend?"

"Mom and Daddy are. I'm spending the night with Emily at her grandma's."

"Then why are you in a hurry?"

"Because Mom will call Mrs. Sullivan at 10:30 on the dot and if I'm not there to talk to her, it'll be a month before we have this conversation again," Missy replied. "Besides, Em swore she would be there at 10:30 too."

"Okay," Stanley agreed reluctantly. "Let's go."

They pulled up in front of Mary Sullivan's house at 10:29. Her brother Jake was Emily's boyfriend and as such, was also there, sitting on the hood of his '69 Roadrunner, very exaggeratedly looking at his watch. He had held it over her head that she had a curfew and he didn't, from the first day Johnston had stopped waiting up for him. His only rule was that he had to be up for church the next morning. Missy thought this was extremely unfair, but as Gail had pointed out, Jake was two years older than her.

Emily noticed Jake and gave him a light slap on the arm. "Stop it," she admonished. "Hey, Stanley. Hey, Missy."

Stanley nodded, "Emily. Jake. How's it going?"

"Can't complain," Jake replied. "Glad you got back in time, Sis. I'd hate to have to tell Dad that you were late."

"Shut up, Jacob," Missy replied, rolling her eyes. She turned to Stanley and smiled. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He kissed her quickly before Emily pulled her inside, leaving Jake and Stanley behind.

Jake looked at him. "Want to go down to the river and have a beer? Or is the Jayhawk's new star too far in training to take a drink?"

"I can drink you under the table and still outplay you on the field," Stanley replied.

"Is that a challenge?"

"See you there."

* * *

Missy had talked to her mom and gotten in to her pajamas when she heard another car pull up. She walked over to the window.

"Oh, I hope you mind, but Lindy is coming over, too," Emily said. "Her parents are out of town and Gran invited before telling me."

Lindy wasn't Missy's favorite person in the world, but she could put up with her for Emily's sake. Em's grandmother thought that she and Lindy should be best friends because she and Lindy's grandmother was. Missy's grandmother, however, was an outsider from New York City who had no right to marry a Jericho boy. At least in the eyes of the town. And in the eyes of Mary Sullivan, this made Missy an unsuitable friend for Emily despite the fact that she was the mayor's daughter and the former mayor's granddaughter. Nope, just that fact that her grandmother was from New York somehow tainted her. However, Jake was a perfect boyfriend for Emily as he was the Mayor's son and from such a good family. Oh how Missy hated the hypocrisy of small town life. She couldn't wait to graduate high school and move to Lawrence with Stanley. Of course, he would graduate at the end of the year and she still had two more but that was the plan. Then they were out of this Podunk town to never look back. More than one source in the state had Stanley destined for the Kansas City Chiefs after college. The way he handled a football was a sight to see and she was going to be a Doctor.

"Did Daddy Green call to make sure his little girl came home on time?" Lindy teased Missy. "I don't know why Stanley goes out with you. You never get to do anything fun."

"Chill, Lindy," Emily said.

"I'm just teasing," Lindy said. "Missy knows how pathetic it is. Mayor Green is never going to let her grow up. She got ground for what, _six months_ for having a hickey on her neck."

"It was six weeks," Missy answered. "And like one hour more would make any difference. There is never anything to do here."

"What's Jake's curfew?"

"Jake is eighteen," Missy said. "When I'm eighteen, I won't a curfew either."

"You'd better hope not cause Stanley will be at UK next year with girls from all over throwing themselves at him and he's going to forget all about the little farm girl who's daddy won't let her stay out past dark," Lindy smirked.

"Okay, okay, let's just go to sleep," Emily said in her constant peacekeeper mode. Secretly she wished her dad cared enough about her to have curfew and just be there to see they were heeded instead of dropping in once every few months when he needed something. She and Missy got in the bed while Lindy threw her sleeping bag on the floor. Twenty minutes later, Lindy was snoring softly so Emily turned to face Missy. "Hey Missy, are you still awake?"

"Yeah," Missy said. "I'm up."

"You know, what Lindy was saying about Stanley, that's not going to happen. He's loved you since he was like, what 4? When he punched Jake for pushing you down and making you cry," Emily said. "He's not going to break up with you just because he's going to college. She's just jealous."

"I know," Missy smiled. But thought to herself, "How many relationships lasted past high school these days?"

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: When I started watching the series, I didn't like Mimi. I loved her by the end. However, Stanley seems like the type of guy who would have married his high school girlfriend and settled down right out of school. This is my take on that. Any suggestions/comments welcome!

Disclaimer: I own nothing or anyone you recognize. Just playing with them for awhile. No money to be made.

* * *

**3 hours before the blast. **

"I have one more mother who should deliver any time now and then I'll head home as soon as I get cleaned up," Missy said into her phone. She was 16 hours into a twelve hour shift as a midwife at Rogue River General Hospital. "How's it going there?"

"That witch from the IRS was here at eight this morning," Stanley replied.

Missy sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had really wanted to be there for that but, they couldn't afford for her to turn down the overtime. "The paper said the appointment was for one."

"Well, I guess reading isn't one of her talents."

"I'm sorry, Babe. I'll get Rosalee to take over for me and head home now," she offered.

"That's okay, Sweetheart," he replied. He knew how she hated to leave one of her patients in labor. "She'll be gone by the time you could get here anyway. Take your time and be careful. Stay another night if you are too tired to drive."

Missy was quiet for a second and then said, "Hey, I've got to go. We will make it through this, okay? I love you."

"Love you, too." Stanley hung up and grimly looked around at his farm. After thirteen years he had hoped to be doing more than just making it through. He hated that she had to work so hard, but sometimes her salary was all that kept them from losing the farm. And now they probably were. This certainly wasn't the life he'd promised her.

"Daddy! Daddy! We gots another cus-a-mer."

Stanley turned around to see their almost four year old daughter running towards him. She had Missy's red curls and fair skin, and his mother's button nose. He smiled and swept her up in his arms. "We do?"

"Yep." She nodded, her curls bouncing.

"Did you greet them?" He asked as she loved to say hello to the town's people who came to their roadside market throughout the day.

She shook her head vigorously. "Uh-huh. Mommy says don't talk to strangers."

"Mommy is right," Stanley agreed, setting her down. They didn't often get tourist out their way, but it wasn't unheard of. He looked at the car pulling up their drive. He recognized the old muscle car. A '69 Roadrunner. Jake.. Jacob Green hadn't been in town for five years. Not since Emily's brother had died.

"No way?! Jake?" He grabbed his brother-in-law and once best friend in a bear hug. "I can't believe you're back. Where have you been, Man?"

Jake smiled. Well, at least Stanley didn't hold any ill will for his hasty retreat. "Around," he answered.

"No one has been around for five years, Jake," Stanley replied, calling him on his BS answer.

"I was in the army for a while," Jake gave a half truth that seemed to appease Stanley. "Is that Bonnie? Where is Missy?" He signed "You grew up" to Bonnie. Bonnie smiled and waved at him before returning to texting.

"Working. She works over in Rogue River," Stanley answered.

"Daddy, who's that?"

Jake's attention was drawn to the little red headed girl who had crept up to hide behind Stanley's legs.

"Daddy?!" Jake asked, incrediously. He didn't even know Missy had been pregnant. He really hadn't been good at keeping in touch. He'd only just found out about Grandpa dying a few weeks before.

He smiled and nodded. "Meet your niece Lillie." He nudged her forward.

Jake knelt down in front of her. "Hi, Lillie. I'm your Uncle Jake. I'm your mommy's big brother."

"Nah-uh," she replied, shaking her head and clutching Stanley's leg. "Unca Eric is."

He reached out to ruffle her hair and then stood up. "I see ya'll have told her all about me."

Stanley shrugged. "We were hoping you'd be back for the funeral. Why don't we get a beer and catch up?"

"No thanks. I just really came to pay respects to Grandpa, you know? I have to get back tonight." He answered. Just then a well-dressed brunette came out of the house, stumbled over and cursed at a goose. "Who is that?"

"Oh, just an IRS adjuster," he replied.

"IRS? As in audit?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about that," he replied, brushing it off in his usual way. "Listen, you have to stop by on your way back. Missy'll kill me if she doesn't get to see you."

"I'll try," Jake said, noncommittally. "Do you have any pies? I need all the help I can get.

* * *

Missy clocked out and gathered her things. The temptation to spend another night in Rogue River before driving home was almost too much to resist. But she knew Stanley needed her. That farm was his whole life. This whole audit ordeal was tearing him up. She got in her truck and headed back home. She was halfway home when she remembered to call Stanley. Her phone rang twice before crackling and going dead. Then her radio went dead. On the horizon she could see a giant mushroom cloud. She didn't know what it meant or what had exploded, but she knew she had to get home as fast as she could. She pressed accelerator down harder never seeing the deer dart out in front of her until too late.

* * *

Bonnie and Stanley had been carrying produce back in the house when Bonnie saw the mushroom cloud. She froze, standing just off the porch. Lillie was sitting on her swing set in the yard. Stanley ran to get her, then grabbed Bonnie and rushed them inside the house. He'd never seen anything like it, except in movies. His heart pounded as he looked up the drive desperately wanting to see Missy's truck pulling up. He should have encouraged her to come home earlier when she offered. She was either still in Rogue River or on the road in between. He wasn't sure which was worst. After half an hour he'd made up his mind to go get her. He took the girls to Jericho. Johnston and Gail would keep them safe.

It became apparent that he wasn't the only one with that idea when Gail opened the door.

"Stanley, come in, come in," she fussed. "Where is Missy?" She took Lillie from his arms and hugged her tightly.

"She's still at work, or was when I last talked to her," he replied. "Can Bonnie and Lillie stay here with you for a while? She should have been home by now. I'm gonna go look for her.

"Sure, sure." Gail said. "You go ahead. They'll be safe here with us." She hugged Stanley. "You be careful out there. Bring our girl home."

Lillie started crying a reached for him. "Don't go, Daddy. Don't go." But Gail held her tight.

"Go. She'll be fine," she told Stanley before comforting Lillie. "It's okay, Sweetie. Daddy's going to get Mommy and you are going to stay with Grandma till then. Grandma and Grandpa will take good care of you so Daddy can help Mommy come home. Shhh..."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review.


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